Your co-worker is guilty. Your sister is guilty. Your best friend is guilty. The writer of this blog is guilty. There is even a good chance you are guilty. Guilty of what you ask? You just might be guilty of the dreaded holiday re-gifting. The idea of re-gifting is often thought of as being a bit taboo. It’s something you just should not do. By re-gifting you are saying, "Hey, this item is of little use to me, perhaps someone else can find a better purpose for it." Some people would never re-gift while others are habitual offenders. Could there be a common ground between the two extremes? Yes, it is possible. How? Change the thought process behind re-gifting.  Re-gifting just means to "give again." Why does it have to be so negative? Re-gifting could be an opportunity to give a meaningful gift to someone else repeatedly. For instance, for your sister’s birthday last year you may have gotten her something personalized especially for her. If she uses it and loves it as much as you had hoped, re-gift that same item so that she doesn’t run out and keep her stock renewed.  Another way to look at re-gifting is...Read More
We sell all kinds of stationery styles, with and without printed envelopes. We also carry return address labels. These handy little items are extremely convenient and a lot easier than writing your name and address all the time. Sometimes it seems like they’d be perfect for every occasion. While that would be a pretty profitable thing to tell you, etiquette is pretty clear on the point. Any type of formal or business correspondence should have a hand-written or custom-printed address directly on the envelope. Dyes very seldom match exactly from batch to batch. If you were to order ivory labels and ivory correspondence cards, for instance, the dyes used to create ivory at the paper mill might be a slightly different tint than the label manufacturer’s dyes, causing the address label to clash with the ivory card stock and the accompanying envelope. Even white has its shades. Labels are sometimes glossy, as well, clashing with any sort of matte envelope stock. This sort of inconsistency in color is only one of the main reasons using return address labels formally is considered poor form. The different dye lots and mismatched coloring do not convey the level of professionalism and quality that...Read More
In this technological day and age, our society seems to have lost some of our personal communication skills.  Now don’t misunderstand us, American Stationery uses the Internet, an online customer resource management system and inter-office email as valuable business tools just like anyone else.  However, we also remember a day of hand-written, post office delivered letters, love notes not written in a popular font, scribbled to-do lists and grocery lists on the refrigerator and so much more.  In all the hustle and bustle of society today, people seem to not want to take the time to sit down with a pen and paper and write down what they have to say.  Is it that much more convenient to type a quick email or text message and send it?  When we take the quick route we loose all the emotion and personal touch.  The only way an email conveys emotion is if you use the emoticons.  A person’s handwriting says so much about what they’re thinking, feeling and what kind of mood their in.  There are literally handwriting experts who can tell if you are male or female, your age and how much education you’ve had. Think back to the days...Read More
Life changes such as marriage, moving, and having children have been discussed in some detail in previous writings. But, what about other life events such as career advancements, anniversaries, and retirement? Though these are significant events you may experience, they are more of a milestone, almost an achievement deserving recognition. Retirement After putting in tireless years in the working world you can finally retire. The time has arrived to kick back and relax. Retirement carries you into a new phase of life. It is a time to reintroduce yourself to your spouse. as you’ll now be spending more time together. You many even get reacquainted with hobbies you have only been able to squeeze into your weekends or even pick up a few new ones. You may begin travels and new adventures. A great way to usher in this new phase of life is through a party or social gathering of family, friends, and colleagues. Once you have said your good-byes and moved on, you can continue to share your new adventures and exploits on special stationery that illustrates the new casual you. Read:  Career Advancement  |  Anniversaries  |  Retirement  
Life changes such as marriage, moving, and having children have been discussed in some detail in previous writings. But, what about other life events such as career advancements, anniversaries, and retirement? Though these are significant events you may experience, they are more of a milestone, almost an achievement deserving recognition. Anniversaries In this day and age, a flourishing marriage is certainly a thing to celebrate and cheer. The first anniversary, also known as the paper anniversary, hopefully marks the start of many more anniversaries to follow. Perhaps paper seems like an unusual gift, but it’s actually quite sweet. Allow the paper to inspire endearing love letters to your mate. Of course, let us not over look the major 25th and 50th anniversary mile markers. Marriages lasting through the decades are often celebrated with parties or even vow renewal ceremonies.   Read:  Career Advancement  |  Anniversaries  |  Retirement  
Life changes such as marriage, moving, and having children have been discussed in some detail in previous writings. But, what about other life events such as career advancements, anniversaries, and retirement? Though these are significant events you may experience, they are more of a milestone, almost an achievement deserving recognition. Career Advancement Depending on the field of choice, you may have had to climb a very high corporate ladder. Maybe years of study have escalated you directly to a top notch position. Maybe you have finally been able to open your own business. No matter how long the journey, career advancement is exciting! You have been faced with challenges academically, personally, and professionally. You (or perhaps someone you know) may be deserving of some sort of accolade or recognition in honor of a job well done. Maybe a party is in order or maybe something more subdued and useful would be perfect.   Read:  Career Advancement  |  Anniversaries  |  Retirement    
In life you will go through many changes, grow to new heights. and accomplish great feats. These times of change, growth, and accomplishment are frequently the result of closing one chapter in your life and starting another. In other words, you are reaching milestones along life’s path. You meet some milestones very early in life. You learn to sit up and roll over and you learn to walk and talk. But, there are many other significant milestones life presents over time. Let’s take a sneak peek at some of these milestones that many of you will encounter, whether in your own personal life or in those around you. Over the next few weeks we will be talking about these milestones and giving some stationery suggestions to go along with them. Coming of Age First Birthday Bar and Bat Mitzvah Sweet Sixteen Graduation Pre-school High School College Life Events Career Advancement Anniversary: silver and golden Retirement